XPost: calgary.general, can.politics, edm.general 
 XPost: hfx.general, tor.general, van.general 
 XPost: wpg.general 
 From: penny@pen.rhys 
  
 On Thu, 12 Jan 2006 14:38:49 GMT, 10x@telu€s.net wrote: 
  
 >On Thu, 12 Jan 2006 00:47:46 -0500, penny  wrote: 
 > 
 >>>>Does that mean you live in the wilderness? 
 >>> 
 >>>It may have been wilderness 75 years ago when my father cleared it 
 >>>with an axe so he could earn his homestead. But it is farmland now. 
 >>>The bears just couldn't turn down the opportunity of a free meal in a 
 >>>pig pen, nor could coyotes and foxes turn down all the meals in the 
 >>>chicken run. 
 >>>It hasn't been wilderness for fifty years but it is rural farmland and 
 >>>there are still bears and other predators there. 
 >> 
 >> 
 >>So you really have need of a long gun since you are living on the 
 >>fringes of a predatory food chain. 
 > 
 >Or a handgun, just as long as it shoots a bullet fairly accurately. 
 >We also have a surplus of deer that need to be harvested or they will 
 >overpopulate and starve, not to mention they compete with vegitarians 
 >on the crops that they eat. 
  
  
 You must have a very busy life. 
  
 The vegetarians are not in competition with any "meat" 
 If people gave up eating commercial meat, more  than the population of 
 this planet could be fed on grain. 
  
 The world's cattle alone consume a pile of food that'e equivalent to 
 the caloric needs of 8.7 billion people. 
  
 > 
 >>>>I don't have a clue about bears. but I would imagine that there are 
 >>>>certain habitats that bears are drawn to more than others and that 
 >>>>these habitats are known and studied and maybe mapped.  It just seems 
 >>>>like common sense to me. Isn't that so? Go ahead and educate me about 
 >>>>bears. 
 >>> 
 >>>Bears are opportunists and are very adaptable, they can live in semi 
 >>>urban settings with very little interaction with humans. 
 >>>When humans grow food that bears like, bears will capitalize on the 
 >>>opportunity to eat.  I have had bears eating the apples off the trees 
 >>>by my driveway.  A pretty sight until children come walking up the 
 >>>driveway. 
 >> 
 >>Thanks for the insight into "bears in your own backyard".  I've never 
 >>seen a bear. 
 > 
 >I've seen a very large number and have killed a few, one for the meat 
 >and hide.  The rest were an economic nessesity. 
 > 
 >>Where I was brought up we had lots of foxes and  sheep.  There weren't 
 >>any bears, wolves or coyotes anywhere close to where I lived.  I 
 >>believe the only place in Europe you might find them are in Spain 
 >>where I think they also still have wolves. 
 > 
 >Oooh! We have wolves here too. They are eating the large numbers of 
 >deer we have but there aren't enough of them. OF course they are 
 >eating other wildlife and farmers livestock, not to mention pets, but 
 >we get along pretty well with wolves... 
 >Pretty animal til they come into your yard and kill and eat your 
 >labrador retrieiver. 
 > 
 What a shame! It must have been hunger that motivated them to do that. 
 I read Farley Mowat's book, NEVER CRY WOLF a very long time ago.  He 
 pictured wolves as far less threatening than the world had previously 
 perceived them. 
  
 Still, I wouldn't want to live with them. 
  
 Penny 
 >take the € out of 10x@telu€s.net to email me 
  
 --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05 
  * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)